- 6 hours ago
As decades long fans, Pokemon Legends Z-A finally makes us feel like we’re part of the Pokémon anime, as this return to Kalos feels like a true slice of life in the Pokémon world.
Reviewed by Catherine Lewis
Video by Hal Dimond
Reviewed by Catherine Lewis
Video by Hal Dimond
Category
🎮️
GamingTranscript
00:00Pokemon Legends Z-A offers a true slice-of-life Pokemon experience
00:04thanks to its anime-style real-time combat system and wholesome world-building elements.
00:10While its single-city setting can sometimes feel a bit samey,
00:13Lumeos is densely packed with things to do and discover.
00:17This is a world worth getting lost in.
00:19What's always made Pokemon special, from booting up the classics on Game Boy to the very first episode of the anime,
00:26is how it sells us a dream of life in its magical world.
00:29That idea of befriending a whole host of lovable creatures, adventuring alongside them, and coexisting together.
00:35Finally, in Pokemon Legends Z-A, it really feels like I can be a part of that world,
00:40and is the closest I've come since watching the anime.
00:43Twelve years since the release of Pokemon X and Y,
00:46and as the second game to don the Legends title after 2022's well-received Pokemon Legends Arceus,
00:53Pokemon Legends Z-A has big shorts to fill.
00:55It fills them admirably, feeling comfier and easier to wear than ever.
01:00More importantly, it proves that the Legends moniker is more than a sub-series to the beloved turn-based series,
01:06managing to innovate and offer a totally fresh experience that pushes Pokemon as a whole forward.
01:12Where Pokemon Legends Arceus leaned more into the collectophon aspects of Pokemon,
01:20pushing you towards completing the Pokedex and exploring the uncharted wilderness of ancient Sinnoh,
01:26Pokemon Legends Z-A is much more battle-centric, with a massively overhauled combat system.
01:31Combat is now real-time.
01:33The Pokemon run around and actually fight right in front of me as I dish out commands.
01:38Fans such as myself have been begging to see this in action for years, and it's finally here.
01:43A big departure?
01:44It certainly takes some getting used to, but it's fantastic fun,
01:48and a little bit emotional to see it finally happening after all this time.
01:52No brawler, there's still plenty of deep systems to wrangle to become the very best,
01:56and the more you lean into mastering it, the more you'll have a tactical blast.
02:00Firing out moves now sees you work to a cooldown system,
02:03fighting alongside my trusty Chikorita at the start of my adventure through the Kalos region's Lumeo City,
02:09I find myself rotating between Razor Leaf and Tackle attacks,
02:12as well as the occasional defense-lowering Tail Whip,
02:15to make the most of the tools in my arsenal and ensure no second is wasted in combat.
02:20Encounters with wild Pokemon are the most involved,
02:22as you can have multiple Angry Mons aiming for you,
02:25yes, your actual trainer, and your team at the same time,
02:29making your dodge roll ability a necessity so that you don't get knocked out yourself after being directly attacked.
02:35This has taken up a notch further in boss battles against rogue mega-evolved Pokemon,
02:40highly aggressive, powered-up Mons with brutal attacks,
02:44as well as different gimmicks like charge attacks and field obstacles to contend with,
02:48and folks are trying to add more dangerous untamed creatures into the city.
02:53Let's not dwell on the practicalities of that too much.
02:55As for trainer battles, where the opposing Pokemon don't have a taste for your blood,
03:00you can theoretically just stand in place and mash buttons with your various attacks,
03:04healing when needed, to blast through fights.
03:07However, while this works, it would be a disservice to the systems on offer to solely play this way.
03:13From the newly dubbed trap moves, like spikes and whirlpool, which set up obstacles on the field,
03:18to moves like vault switch and u-turn, which allow you to play around with the positioning of your Mons,
03:23there's now much more to consider in battle.
03:25It's worth noting that there's no dedicated dodge command for your Pokemon.
03:29They follow you around the field, and you can guide them out of the way of attacks this way,
03:33but you can't make them jump out of harm's way like you can yourself in wild battles,
03:37making it difficult to avoid everything.
03:40I'm torn on whether the combat system would actually be better for implementing an option like this.
03:45However, being able to dodge everything could end up trivializing fights too much,
03:49and it's still possible to avoid many moves once you've memorized what they look like.
03:53After learning proper spacing and the best times to retreat and attack yourself,
03:58the whole thing comes alive,
04:00and the fast, fluid nature of the fights feels delightfully anime-esque.
04:04This feeling spreads far beyond the battles, too.
04:11With the shift to an entirely urban setting,
04:14the bustling streets of Lumio City are full of people walking around with their Pokemon partners,
04:19and there are plenty of ways to interact with the citizens thanks to the enormous number of side missions on offer.
04:24For the most part, these center around folks befriending and interacting with the Pokemon around them,
04:29and while they range in complexity, they all help convey the charm of Pokemon life.
04:34From leading a group of smelly rubbish away from the tempting leftovers at a cafe,
04:38to taking a trainer's grumpy slurpuff on an outing to get its favorite snack,
04:43these small moments help build up a bigger picture of the Pokemon world and what it would be like to live in it.
04:48Going into the Pokemon Legends Z8, my biggest concern was its single-city setting.
04:52Crucially, does it feel like a proper Pokemon journey when confined within the walls of Lumio City?
04:58The reality is that, no, it doesn't.
05:01Not in the traditional sense.
05:03Instead, Z8 offers a different kind of adventure, fulfilling a wish I've had for years.
05:09Don't get me wrong, the city doesn't feel small.
05:11It's densely packed, with areas hiding items and rare Pokemon,
05:15and the rooftops basically form their own labyrinth towering down from above.
05:20Hell, you can even explore the Lumio sewers as a whole separate dungeon, which is a definite highlight.
05:25The more compact setting also gives Legends Z8's human characters a bigger chance to shine,
05:31with some of the new faces here being some of the series' most likable and memorable additions in years.
05:36After around 34 hours playing, in which time I completed the main game and heaps of side content,
05:42I still haven't seen absolutely everything on offer,
05:46and I reckon I'll be playing for a long time yet before I get bored.
05:49Crucially, living and breathing city life for an entire RPG means the return to Kalos
05:55feels like a true slice of life in the Pokemon world that you're a part of.
05:59That dream sold to us by the Pokemon anime?
06:02It's right here, clearer than it ever has been in the actual games.
06:05And it's impossible not to get caught up in the joy of that
06:08as you wake up and leave your new residence of Hotel Z in a morning.
06:12Wild Fletchling and Pidgey flying past and perching gently on streetlights
06:16as you run down the streets with your Pokemon by your side.
06:19The lack of regional adventure may not be to everyone's taste,
06:22but if you've ever fantasized about living in a Pokemon world like I have,
06:26there's a lot to love here.
06:28There are still downsides to the setting though.
06:30Many buildings are there purely for decoration and can't be interacted with at all,
06:35and fewer still actually let you inside, which is slightly disappointing.
06:40Beyond that, a more significant issue is the lack of variation in the environment,
06:43leading to a lot of it looking very similar.
06:46It's not a problem across the board.
06:48The aforementioned sewers offer a major shake-up to the traditional streets,
06:52and other locations like the Saison Canal spice up the scenery on the ground and underground levels.
06:58But it's another matter altogether up on the rooftops.
07:01The rooftops are a massive part of Lumiose City.
07:04So many rare Pokemon are hiding up there,
07:06as well as small hidden areas with NPCs and items.
07:09But visually, it's very difficult to set most of it apart.
07:14I've personally lost track of where I've been and where I've not,
07:17and looking at it doesn't help because it's all so similar.
07:20I've resorted to scanning for unclaimed items as an indicator of places I've missed,
07:25but that's no perfect solution.
07:27It makes me wish that there was at the very least a layered city map to look at
07:31that filled out as you explore.
07:33But really, the top level of Lumiase really could have done with more to spice up its appearance.
07:38Wild zones can be hit and miss too.
07:41As the name would suggest, these are the main places to find wild Pokemon in the city.
07:45But they're generally rather small.
07:47Most of the time, you can expect to catch everything in them within 5 to 10 minutes.
07:51But although LegendZA's focus is largely on battling rather than collecting,
07:56it's still satisfying to do.
07:57And there's plenty of incentive thanks to research tasks,
08:00which award points for things like catching everything in an area,
08:03evolving a set number of Pokemon,
08:05catching a certain amount of a different Pokemon type, and so forth.
08:08Earn enough points, and you'll earn different rewards,
08:11like technical machines that can teach your party new moves,
08:14experience candies to level up your mons faster,
08:17and the grand prize,
08:18a shiny charm to boost your chances of finding rare shiny Pokemon.
08:22After Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's infamously rocky launch,
08:28I'd be remiss not to talk about performance here.
08:31But I'm pleased to report that in my time playing Pokemon LegendZA on Nintendo Switch 2,
08:36I've not encountered any issues like stuttering or frame drops,
08:39with everything running butterfree smooth in both TV and handheld mode.
08:44I can't speak for its performance on the OG Switch, of course,
08:47but it's safe to say that Switch 2 owners won't have any trouble here.
08:50I reckon it's also the best-looking Pokemon game so far,
08:54which isn't to say that it's a stunner.
08:56Some textures can look flat,
08:57and it's certainly not the highest graphical fidelity of all time,
09:01when you look closely at the Prisian streets.
09:03But it's a noticeable upgrade from what's come before.
09:06The Pokemon series Return to Kalos has been long overdue.
09:10Up until the Switch era,
09:11where DLC expansions took over from the typical third versions,
09:14or sequels of the different main entries,
09:16rest in peace, Pokemon Emerald, Pokemon Platinum, and Pokemon Black and White 2.
09:21Pokemon X and Y were the only main series RPGs to be left as standalone adventures.
09:27Between the two versions, I've spent over 300 hours in those games,
09:31and returning to Lumio City in Legends EA in many ways feels like playing the sequel
09:36we never got back in Generation 6.
09:38As far as Legends games go,
09:40returning to a well-trodden location on this occasion
09:43means there's naturally less of a sense of wonder in comparison to Legends Arceus,
09:47which offered such a radically different version of Sinnoh,
09:50that its locations were mostly only similar in name rather than actual appearance.
09:55However, Legends EA makes up for it
09:57by both expanding on the Nintendo 3DS' limited take on Lumio City,
10:02as well as piling on their nostalgia for the fans like me,
10:05who fell in love with those 2013 games.
10:07I've got to shout out the music here too.
10:09As well as totally new tunes,
10:11there are also plenty of remixes of classic Kalos region bangers,
10:15and they're all incredible.
10:17Music has always been somewhat of a strong suit of the series.
10:20In this house, we bust moves to Route 210 from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl,
10:24but from the atmospheric songs that play as you explore the city,
10:27to the many different battle themes,
10:29I genuinely think we have some all-timers on our hands here.
10:32Pokemon Legends Z8 may not be the perfect open-world adventure,
10:35but its slice-of-life vibes and brilliant battle system changes are a real delight,
10:41and I hope this isn't the last we see of its innovations.
10:43In some ways, it feels like what Pokemon should have been all along,
10:47and I'm excited to see what impact it could have on the series' future.
10:50But for now, Lumio City, c'est magnifique.
10:55We give Pokemon Legends Z8 4 stars out of 5.
10:58But what about you?
11:01Will you be jumping into this battle-focused Pokemon Legends entry?
11:04Are you excited to return to Kalos,
11:06or will this be your first time exploring Lumios?
11:09Let us know, and stick with GamesRadar
11:11for the latest on the greatest games of 2025.
11:14We bounce you now and be alive.
11:14I also hope you can reward 2021.
11:38amar.
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